The Oldest

I always thought I wanted a girl first, because... Well, because they're cute and I really just want to get the girl out of the way! Plus, I've really got a system down with these cute baby hairbows I make and as one of hubby's aunt's says "Now you're gotta make a baby to put in them!" SO TRUE!... But it would have to be a girl, or else that would just be weird.

So I have it all planned out to have a girl right? You probably saw my rituals post about things I'm going to do to have a girl. Well, I may be changing my mind. See...Boyz II Men came to town and were playing all of their old school love songs. I missed the concert but my news station covered it. It got us all pulling up the songs on Youtube and singing along... Well when we got to this one song called "A Song for Mama" I got all teary eyed and decided I want a boy (love how I just decide what I'm going to have, like I have a choice in the matter?).

So it got me thinking about the months we'll have to do it to have a boy and the stuff I'll have to eat.. positions, etc. Plus, hubby wants a boy (go figures right?) and I wouldn't mind having a momma's boy.

So I was all set to have a boy...but then I got to thinking... The oldest child, would I rather it be a boy or girl? Hubby and I are both the oldest and I get a lot with my siblings a lot better than he does... He gets a long with them, it's just that he doesn't COMMUNICATE with them at all often. I Tweeted the question "what do you think is better for a first child, boy or girl?" and most peopel said girl... For the same reasons. So now I think I'm back to square one.

Obviously I'll be happy with either. I've come a long way... I'm pretty much torn 55/45 (girl)right now with what I'd like, but when we first got married I was worried I wouldn't like my son if he came out first... Harsh right? I don't feel that way anymore. I'll be happy with a healthy baby but I'm going to "experiment" for a girl... I have a 50% chance (actually I think it's 49%) naturally, but I'll see if I can beat the odds.

Sharon asked me if I had a gut feeling what I'd have one way or the other... Here's what I think (as of now pre-conception) I think it's going to be a BOY!! Why? Because it would be ironic and my life is ironic. Oh, and because I've been having lots of dreams about a baby boy lately... I think he's ready to come down. I use to dream about a girl all the time... What do you think happneed to her? Hmm... We'll see!

The Rituals--For Gender Selection

A little while ago I posted about the best season to have a baby. Seems like people HATE being majorly pregnant in the summer months... But the upside is swimming. I am cold all the time so I feel like I'd like being pregnant in the wintertime and having a spring baby... So when does that mean I'll have to get knocked up? (Counting backwards on my fingers)... I think that means June or so... Around there. I know I want to try NOT to have a baby towards the end of the year cause like some people pointed out... Having a birthday near Christmas isn't so fun. Plus, my birthday is in January and Hubby's is in November... Our anniversary is in December, there's just too much going on that time of year. June seems sooo far though! And what if it doesn't work right, right away? Ugh! Decisions decisions.

Kayce also gave me a great website that seems to have a 77% accuracy rating for gender prediction. I looked it up and mapped out when my mom had all of us four girls... The system was correct! Same for some of my friends and their moms... So according to this calender if I conceive in June, August, or December I should have a girl (which is my first choice). June would be perfect cause then I should have her in April... Perfect, no? Spring baby!!

My friend also looked up some other stuff you can do to try to have a girl: Avoid salty foods, eat lots of dairy, mineral water and certain vegetables... Oh and my favorite: Put a wooden spoon under my bed and a pink ribbon under my pillow. Worth a try right?

Of course I don't mind what I have... We'll have more than one but it would be fun to try to choose before and see if that's what I end up with. Hubby wants a boy first so one of us will be happy. I know I'll be fine and happy either way though with a healthy happy baby. I wouldn't mind a mommy's boy.

Did you try any crazy techniques to choose the gender?

The First Grandchild

Ok can I be a little honest about my selfishness right now? ...Never stopped me before.

Alright, well one thing I think about a lot when it comes to having kids is timing. But this isn't always in regards to how old I am and how ready am... That's a given. The timing I'm talking about is in regards to when I have kids in relation to my (/our) siblings.

My husband and I are both the oldest children and we were the first to get married out of our siblings and we could be the first to have kids (aka grandkids). Sometimes (actually most times) I think that I want to be the first to have grandkids for our parents (aka grandparents).

There are many reasons for this. For one... I think the first always has a special place in grandparents' hearts. I know I was the favorite (or did they just tell that to each of their grandkids?) and while it's not always fun to be the oldest child, being the oldest grandchild is kind of cool. They are the first part of the next generation of posterity. I mean common, the sacrifice was always the "first born" no one asked for the second or third! The oldest = coolest ok?! (Can you tell I'm the oldest child?) And while I think the oldest CHILD has it hard (babysitting, way stricter rules, no cell phone, allowance, curfew, and all those other things the younger siblings get away with, etc.), the oldest grandchild... Well, they pretty much have a sweet gig.

I however, do think that my expectations of having the coveted "first grandchild" could be a little overrated since we don't live close to either of our families. Therefore our kids won't be in close pampering proximity and even if they are the oldest, the others, who live closer could have a better opportunity to see the grandparents and get spoiled rotten.

Now on the other hand, if we didn't have kids first, I could get first hand, down right honest reaction on the whole parenting scheme straight from the trenches. It would be like an up-close, behind the scenes, exclusive interviews, uncut version of parenting. I'd witness how my siblings/ siblings-in-law handle it, and see how the grandparents react... Then learn what to do and no to do. Guinea pigs I guess you could call them.

Either way, the decision is completely selfish and could be beneficial one way or another. Now I just have to figure out which one is MORE beneficial. *evil laugh*

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Nightly Notion
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I babysat for a couple of hours this afternoon... The girls are cute and great but the parents parenting style I think is quite different than mine will be. I will not be a type-A mom. I will not be a type-A mom. More on this topic to come!

The HAIL NAHs and Yes Pleases

My friend Randi sent me a request:
"I request a baby post on what lessons you vow to teach your children. Like something that growing up you were like 'I will never do that to my child' or 'I will make sure my child knows to always to that' or whatever."

As per my her request, I've been thinking of things I currently am thinking "No way in Hell" are my kids doing ___.

#1 The leash. I love custom collars and leashes for my dog but for humans... If my kids are so bad that they need a leash I'm leaving them at home.
#2 The portable toilet. Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but it's NOT going in the living room or kitchen (trust me people, I've heard of this). The poop stays in the BATHROOM!
#3 I'm not going to make my oldest child babysit the younger ones often. The words "Take your sister with you" still haunt me from my childhood.
#4 Cell phones. What is up with the recent epidemic? My 11-year old sister has a cell phone, what does an 11 year old need a cell phone for? My kids won't be getting a cell phone (unless their paying the bill) until they're AT LEAST 16.

Some things I want to do:
#1 Teach them how to swim. I can't swim, not well at least. I suppose I could swim to save my life if it was in water no more than 6 feet deep and within 10 feet of land. Other than that, without a life jacket... I'd probably drown. I want my kids to like the water and be able to swim (to save their mom if they have to)
#2 Teach them manners. But not just that, I want to teach my kids to say "yes ma'am and sir" and "no ma'am and no sir."
#3 Teach them self sufficiently. I want to help my children as much as I can but I don't want freeloaders. I know a lot of people who say "It'll be great if I have kids young because they'll be out of the house when I'm in my 40sand then we can do stuff together" Yes, but that's only if they actually go away: like to college, on missions, whatever. But even then they'll probably be paying for their child's college, missions, weddings, and then the grandchildren come... It's a never ending cycle I'm not sure I'm ready to begin. I want to encourage my kids to save and pay their way through college like I did. Don't get me wrong, I want to help, but I don't want to just hand it to them.
#4 Spankings: I don't really think there's anything wrong with spankings. Obviously I'll have to see what works for our kids, but I never really believed that "time out" did the trick.

That's all I can think of right now. I'll add more as I think of it.

The Fantasy

If I had it my way I'd have twins like all of the celebrities are nowadays. I'd not only have twins, I'd have one boy and one girl. I'd buy two of everything: Cribs, diaper changers, rocking chairs. The nursery would be half pink and half blue and there'd be a yellow purple and green stripe right down the middle of the room. I'd also buy this stroller. I looked into gender selection. For about $18K I can choose the gender of my baby. Leave it to me to write to the doctors and ask if I can get twins... One of each. They told me their twin success rate of both genders is only 18%... Then how in the world did Brad and Angelina, Jen and Marc, Nancy Grace, Julia Roberts ALL have one boy and one girl at the same time?... COME ON! Don't try to tell me that's just a coincidence they've all had twins... And ALL of them being one boy and one girl! Give me a break! Ok, maybe it has to do with the fact that they're famous multi-millionaires but still!

Trying to find a cheaper way, I read yams could be linked to twins. I HATE yams but if it'll get me twins I may start eating up! There's also always fertility drugs, but then I risk the chance of having quintuplets. I love John and Kate's kids but I don't think we could handle THAT!

If you hear of anything that could get me twins, no matter how silly, let me know!